


Not Alone

by BrotherBat



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Comfort, Damian Wayne-centric, Gen, Horror, Scary, Storms, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-09 23:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20518028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrotherBat/pseuds/BrotherBat
Summary: Damian's alone at Wayne Manor on a stormy night. He already hates storms, but something stranger and more dangerous is happening here. Turns out, he's not as alone as he thought. Can Damian overcome his fear to defeat an evil that has invaded his home?





	1. Chapter 1

"I don't need a babysitter, Grayson. Besides, I have Pennyworth."

"Well yeah, but I'm sure Alfred has plenty of other things he needs to do while Bruce is away, and- Oh, one second," Grayson replies before I hear a loud splash from his end of the phone, "The puddles from this storm are huge, Dami. We should see what it's like at the manor together when I get there, it'll be fun."

"I'm not a child, Grayson. I don't play in the rain and I don't need a babysitter," I say as I start to scan the contents of the bookshelf in front of me, looking for something more interesting to waste my time with than this.

"I'm not coming to babysit you. It's just that if I didn't come, it would be your first time alone in the manor for more than a day. I don't want to you to get lonely."

"I enjoy being left alone-"

"No you don't, you can't lie to me."

"-tt-"

"See? Anyway, it's going to be great, trust me. Just you, me, and Alfred, it'll be just like old times. I probably won't be there until it's quite late with all the disruption this storm is causing. But if you need anyone before that, you can always find Alfred or call me, okay? Damia-"

BEEEEEEEEEEEP

I had to hang up, that was getting unbearable. I pull out a book.

"Hmm, I haven't notice this one before."

Wait, what am I doing, talking to myself now? Maybe Grayson has a point about being alone. I sit down in a comfortable chair and start to read, the book holds my interest for a while. But then-

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

The thunder starts to get louder... taking me out of my concentration. I don't like storms, they're a nuisance, I didn't have to deal with them much when I was with mother, but they're a frequent feature of Gotham. No wonder this place needs so much help. I plug my ears with my earphones and start to play some music, hoping to drown out the noise from outside. But I soon realize all I've done is replace one distracting sound with another, making me incapable of concentrating on my book.

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

And the storm starts to break through anyway. Ugh, I give up. I drop my earphones on the table and shove the book back onto the shelf. Stupid weather, stupid book, stupid Grayson. Why did Father have to go on such a long mission anyway? The Justice League didn't need him for any of them before, he hasn't been on any since, well since I've been here.

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

I shiver for a second, then take a calm deep breath. It's just a storm, I remind myself.

I wonder if it's still loud in the cave? I leave the library and walk down the stairs. I decide to check the kitchen for Pennyworth before I go below the manor, but see no sign of him. He doesn't seem to be preparing anything at all actually, which is strange with Grayson coming over. I suppose he could be cleaning somewhere else, or preparing his room instead, plenty of explanations. Besides, like I told Grayson, I'm fine on my own. I turn around to leave-

CLANG!

I freeze for a second before shivering again. That wasn't the thunder...

I turn around to see, nothing. Absolutely nothing has moved.

"PENNYWORTH?" I yell.

No reply.

Well, just because it wasn't the thunder. Doesn't mean it wasn't the storm, that was probably just some gutters or roof tiles falling, something like that. The manor is incredibly old... except Pennyworth makes sure it's maintained in perfect condition. I creep into the kitchen, anxiously twisting around to make sure I don't turn my back on any danger. I can't see anything out of the ordinary, so I make my way to the entrance of the dining room. I carefully peek around the corner to see once again, absolutely nothing. I don't know what I was expecting, or why I'm so nervous.

I try to forget the noise and turn back towards the entrance to the cave. Moving a bit more swiftly than before. I turn the handles of the grandfather clock, allowing it to slide open and reveal the stairs behind it. I walk down and feel a wave of calmness wash over me as I realize I can no longer hear the storm.

As I reach the cave, I stop for a moment and close my eyes, letting out a contented sigh as I take in the silence. When I open them, I take in the view as well. The cave's computer a little to my right, I realize how odd it is seeing it locked, father spends most of his time there when he's not training. The changing rooms ahead of me, with just mine and Grayson's costumes hanging there, not quite like old times. The training area to my left, with the long mirror across the wall of the cave and all the equipment put away. I look closer into the mirror, turning my head to see it reflecting the black void of the cave beyond the computer. That sight gives me an unsettling thought, if my father found this cave by falling in as a child, there must still be a link outside to the manor grounds. So why can I not hear the storm?

I try to push that thought away, maybe he just closed the link, totally plausible. I should just be happy to be away from the storm. I head to the training area and decide to practise some ground moves on the mats, as I don't want to waste valuable training time getting equipment out, especially before Grayson arrives and likely forces me into doing something more ordinary with him. After a while, the silence stops being calming and starts to become boring. Just me, alone, in silence. -tt- I need to stop proving Grayson right. I get up and head to the speaker system to turn on some music, but before I get there-

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

I jump, the hairs on my neck stand up as I shiver. How did thunder get through here? It was completely silent before! I take a deep breath again before turning to myself in the mirror. The first thing I notice are my eyes, they're wide open, I can't help it. I start to feel sweaty, I'm even panting... stop it!

"This is ridiculous," I tell myself, "I'm Damian Wayne, Son of Batman, and there is nothing I am afraid of. Especially not being home alo-"

I notice something, out of the corner of my eye in the mirror. Movement. I hesitate to look over there. Instinctively I hold my breath, my heart starts to beat out my chest. For a second I wonder if it's just a bat, I'm getting worried over nothing yet again. But then I give in and look, as a white figure starts to dash out of the shadows towards me.

I turn around, completely panicked but ready to defend myself. But there's nothing there... No bat, no white figure, nothing. My eyes dart around the cave, looking for signs of anyone hiding. I don't let my guard down until I'm certain I can't see anything. I realize I'm panting again and feel like I'm drenched in sweat as I'm finally sure I'm alone.

"It's okay," I tell myself as I lean into the mirror behind me, "I'm alone and I'm not afrai-

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

There's a bright flash.

I turn towards the stairs back to the manor and sprint, I'm not thinking anymore, I can't. Every time I try to think, something happens. I need to get out of here, I need to breathe. I don't look behind me as I dash up the many stairs before I open the entrance to the manor and close it behind me. I stop but I don't have time to try and calm down this time, as I hear what sounds like the front door opening. But it's not followed by Alfred's voice, which keeps me on edge, he always greets people at the door...

I think to call his name but stop myself, maybe there really was something or someone in the cave. I didn't see Pennyworth before, and I heard that noise from the kitchen, perhaps this is a coordinated attack on the manor! Someone found Pennyworth and knocked him out before he could get to the kitchen, to me... then they followed me down into the cave and waited for a moment to strike. It all makes sense. Which means that person at the door could be part of it! I need to hide before they find me again. No, wait! I'm no coward, I need to sneak up on them and find out what they want. And teach them a lesson for what they did to Pennyworth.

I start to creep towards the front door, sticking to the wall and hiding behind various pieces of furniture as I do. I peak around the corner and notice the door is now closed with seemingly no one around it. I look for anyone that could be hiding, waiting for me to reveal myself, but I don't spot anything, so I approach the door.

As I step onto a puddle on the floor, soaking my feet, I have a great idea. The intruder didn't dry off, the fools, they've created a perfect trail of water for me to fol-

I feel a hand on my shoulder and instantly spin around, using the momentum to punch forward with my fist.

"Whoa!" they say as they dodge out of the way, "is that any way to say hello to your brother, Dami?"

Stupid Grayson.

** Dick's POV **

"-tt-" Damian replies as he looks around, is he trying to avoid my eyes?

"Are you okay?" I ask, kneeling down to his level, which I instantly regret as my knee gets drenched from the water across the floor.

Damian doesn't respond as he continues to scan the room, he looks pretty shaken up over something, so I try to lighten the mood, "when I mentioned checking out the puddles at the manor earlier, I didn't mean on the inside," I say as I point to my knee, he starts to pay attention now, "your feet must be soaked. This is all my fault, Alfred will be disappointed with the mess I've managed to make just by walking in. How about I clean up while you go settle down in the living room? We could watch a movie together?"

He takes a deep breath then slowly walks towards the living room, grabbing a towel on the way to dry his feet.

"I'll be with you in just a few minutes," I assure him before turning to clean up the floor.

As I make my way into the living room, I see Damian flinch to the sound of some thunder outside. Oh, so that's what's been bugging him, he always did seem a little bothered by storms but never this badly, I guess this is the first time he's had to deal with it alone. Well, not anymore.

I sit beside Damian and place my arm over his shoulders, "So how about that movie, huh?" I say as I grab the controller and start to scroll through a list of stuff to watch, "anything look cool to you?" I ask.

"That one looks acceptable," he replies as I stop on an action film.

"Perfect," I press play and start to turn the volume up. Hopefully drowning out the sound of the storm will help distract him from it.

A couple minutes into the film-

"I see you've made yourself at home, Master Dick," Alfred says as he walks into the room with a tray of snacks. Damian jumps as he hears Alfred's voice, which is odd, maybe it's not just the storm that's bothering him. Alfred seems to notice too, "are you alright, young sir?" he asks.

"Fine, Pennyworth," Damian replies unconvincingly.

"Yup, thanks for the snacks, sorry about the volume by the way," I add.

"Nothing to worry about, that's actually what alerted me to your arrival. I heard there was a chance this storm could last a while, so I was just busy preparing for if that turns out to be the case. Now, I shall leave you to your entertainment," he says as he leaves the room.

After a while, Damian seems to calm down and relax, even squeezing in closer to me.

"So, are you going to tell me what's been bothering you, Dami?" I ask.

"Nothing's been bothering me, Grayson. You're imagining things."

"If you're sure."

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Wow, that must have been loud to get over the surround sound, and yet no reaction from Damian... It can't just be the storm, there's something else, but he really doesn't want to tell me what it is right now. So I'll just have to do my best to comfort him and hope he can deal with it himself.

As it starts to get late, I notice Damian having trouble keeping his eyes open, "maybe it's time to go to bed?" I say, poking his nose.

"No, I- uh... want to watch the end of the movie," he replies.

"The end of the movie? This is pretty predictable so far, Dami, I think we can both guess-"

"I don't want to go to bed, Grayson," he says more forcefully.

I switch off the movie and stand up from the couch.

"Come on," I say as I stretch, "I'm pretty tired too."

He gives me a glare, but as I hold out my hand, he takes it and reluctantly stands up. As we walk upstairs, I pass my room and continue towards Damian's. When we arrive at his room, I wait in the doorway. He scowls at me as he passes and I assume he's about to remind me that he's not a child, but instead he just walks in without closing the door. When he's done preparing for bed, I walk over to tuck him in. The fact that he makes no attempt to stop me confirms more than anything that something's going on.

"Goodnight, Dami."

"Goodnight, Grayson."

I go back to my room and get ready for bed myself. I'm probably lying down for around fifteen minutes before-

"Grayson!" I hear Damian yell, I immediately sit up as he runs into me, burying his face in my chest.

I place my hand behind his head, "what's wrong, Dami?"

I can hear his rapid breathing and sniffing before he explains, "I was- I was trying to sleep. But I hea- heard scratching at the window, like cla- claws."

"Aw, I'm sure it was just the storm, Dami. It's fi-"

"B-but, I went to the window to ch-check and it- it flew open! And knocked me over and- and then the door opened too and I just- I ran here."

"Shhh," I carefully pull Damian's head away from my chest as I kneel down, looking him in the eyes as tears trickle down his face, "I understand why you're unsettled, but I'm sure it's nothing, everything's okay. It's really windy, you probably just hadn't closed the window properly last time you opened it. But I know how you feel, come here," I say as I give him a big hug, "you can sleep here tonight."

"I don't wanna sleep," he replies before sniffing.

"Then we can carry on watching the movie up here instead, does that sound good?"

I feel Damian nod before I lift him up onto my bed.

"Come on, let's get you comfortable," I say as I scoot next to him and cover us both with the bed sheets. He leans into me and places his arms around my waist. I start to stroke his hair as I put the movie on. It's not long before he starts to get tired again and rests his head in my lap, before falling asleep.

I sit there for a while just watching him. I don't want to leave him in case he wakes up, but I have to make sure the open window isn't letting the rain soak his room. I gently lift his head and place a pillow under it instead as I get out of the bed and head to his room.

I can already feel the chill as I reach his door, the window is wide open, so Damian was right about that. I close it as I check the carpet with my feet to see if the rain has done any damage, thankfully there don't seem to be any seriously wet patches. As I look out the window, I realize there aren't any trees or branches anywhere near it... so where was the scratching coming from?

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

I freeze.

Well that was from behind me... I'm unable to turn around as I panic, my mind racing to think of the possibilities of what could have happened here. The most logical one being that maybe the storm allowed an intruder into the manor grounds, he climbed up to Damian's window, managed to shove it open and then went to... hide in the cupboard right behind me. But if that was the case, why hasn't he just attacked me yet? Unless-

SLAM!

The door! He closed it, I'm an idiot, he's not targeting me at all, it's not my room he climbed into. He's just stalling me while he goes after Damian! And I left him alone... what have I done?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian's alone at Wayne Manor on a stormy night. He already hates storms, but something stranger and more dangerous is happening here. Turns out, he's not as alone as he thought. Can Damian overcome his fear to defeat an evil that has invaded his home?

**Dick's POV**

I yank the door open and sprint down the hallway to my room. My heart pounds out of my chest as I repeat one thought over and over in my head, I refuse to let anything hurt Damian!

I turn the corner into my room, keeping my momentum going before noticing that the room is actually... exactly as I left it, including Damian sleeping safe and sound on my bed. In my confusion, I struggle to stop myself and fling my legs into the air as I fall backwards onto the floor. Thankfully the bed covers make my landing a little less- wait, why are the covers on the floor?

I guess not everything is how I left it. I stand up and look around, nervously panting as I realize all the covers and pillows have been thrown off of my bed and scattered across the floor, except for the pillow beneath Damian's head. If I was still looking for logical explanations, I'd say maybe Damian threw them all off, but he's lying in the exact same position he was in before. I look around the room more thoroughly now, trying to make sure I don't miss anything this time. If someone or something is hiding in here, any mistake could be costly.

I wipe some sweat off my forehead as I come to the conclusion that the only thing affected was my bed. But with the window closed, I know that something else did this, I just don't know what. I gather the covers off of the floor and place them back over Damian, before carefully climbing back into bed myself. I switch off the paused movie, and gently bring Damian into my arms, cradling him as I close my eyes and try to get some sleep. I can work this all out with a fresh mind in the morning, I'm sure it-

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

My entire body freezes. That sounded very similar to the noise I heard in Damian's room... I open my eyes a crack, checking to see if the door is still closed, which it is. Well, there is still a storm going on, I should expect some noise. As long as nothing's moved, we should be okay. I close my eyes again.

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

I breathe a deep sigh as my chest starts to feel heavy, I'm getting sick of this. I open my eyes checking that the door is closed once again, then that the windows are closed, nothing has changed. It has to be the storm, or maybe I'm just hearing things, that would be completely understandable with what's happened tonight, but I have to get over it or I'm never going to get any sleep. I close my eyes.

CREEK! CREEK! CREEK! CREEK!

Or maybe I'm not hearing things, that's definitely footsteps-

CREEK! CREEK!

Yup, definitely footsteps! From the bottom of the bed and coming closer! Whatever this is, it's toying with me. I take a deep breath, I'm not going to be scared this time. Because now I have Damian with me, and I won't let anything touch him!

CREEK!

Now's my chance! As I hear the noise beside me I spring upwards, opening my eyes as I swiftly punch in the direction it came from. But as my fist fails to connect with anything, all I see is thin air... but I swear I heard-

And that's when I notice out of the corner of my eye, the door of the wardrobe at the bottom of my bed, it's wide open. I slowly turn my head, scanning the room for anyone hiding, before getting out of bed and turning on the light. I check that Damian is still asleep and safe, which he is, before examining the wardrobe.

Nothing seems to have moved inside, which would have to happen if someone was hiding in here. But I do spot something, a feather at the bottom of wardrobe. It definitely doesn't belong to any piece of clothing inside. I pick it up and look at it in the light. It's fairly large and has a thick striped pattern. I close the wardrobe and place the feather on the table next to my bed, before getting back in and turning off the light. Another clue, I yawn, hopefully I can make some sense out of all this tomorrow. I give the feather one last look before closing my eyes.

I wake up as the light shines on my face from the window. While my eyes adjust, the first thing I see is the feather, a reminder that last night wasn't just a dream, no matter how much I wish it was. I look out the window, thankfully noticing that the storm has been replaced by a clear sky. At least Damian can be happy about that. I look at him, still fast asleep in my arms. I don't plan on letting him out of my sight again after the scare last night, not until I know what's going on. So I stay in bed until he wakes up.

When he does, he lifts his head to look at me groggily. I ruffle his hair.

"I thought you said you weren't tired last night?"

He gives me glare.

"I never said I wasn't tired, Grayson," he yawns, "I said I didn't want to sleep."

"Well now that you have, are you feeling better?" I ask.

He looks out the window and gives that hint of a smile that even he can't hide sometimes, before laying back down.

"No, I'm sorry, Dami. But we've got to get up now," I gently shake him before he can try and go back to sleep.

"Why?" he asks, squinting at me.

Well because I have to get up to start investigating what happened and I can't leave you on your own. But I can't tell you that, so...

"Because Alfred's already made breakfast, and it will get cold if we don't eat it soon."

He grunts as he sits up. I put the feather from the table in my pocket before he can notice it, then start to get ready for the day. When I'm done, I follow Damian to his room so he can do the same before we go down to the kitchen for breakfast. Alfred is there finishing up our meals.

"Good morning, young sirs. I was just about to wake you up for breakfast."

"No need, you know us, always early risers," I joke.

Alfred gives a slight chuckle.

"Let's agree that you're often awake at sunset," he says as we sit down before he places the food in front of us.

"Oh by the way, Alfred. I have something I need to discuss with you, if you don't mind," I gesture to the hallway.

"Of course."

"Just a sec, Dami," I look back to Damian, who rolls his eyes before digging into his breakfast.

"What is it that you wanted to discuss?" Alfred asks, "is it something about Master Damian?"

"Uh, not really," I don't want to say too much about last night yet, I'm going to look a little crazy as it is. I pull the feather out of my pocket, "can you find out what kind of bird this belongs to?"

Alfred raises an eyebrow at me, but takes the feather.

"I have a lot to do today, especially with making sure that nothing on the grounds was damaged by the storm, but I shall do my best to look into it. Are you going to tell me why you need this information?"

"I will as soon as I know myself," I place a hand on his shoulder, "but thanks for trusting me," I flash him a smile.

"That's what I'm here for, and to tell you when you're being foolish, which I will prepare for depending on how this goes. Now as I said, I have a lot to do, so I shall leave you to your breakfast."

He places the feather in his breast pocket as I turn around and rejoin Damian in the kitchen.

**Damian's POV**

Grayson's useless at being secretive, I'm sure he was just telling Pennyworth about whatever happened last night. Tension rises in my chest as he sits down opposite me, I wait to see if he'll mention anything, but he just starts eating his breakfast. I give him occasional looks, thinking he may bring up what happened when our eyes make contact. But instead he just looks around the room, is he humming something?

"Are you okay, Grayson?" I ask.

"I'm fine, are you?" he replies, with particular emphasis on my wellbeing.

I sigh.

He just wants me to be the one to ask.

"Did you see anything in my room last night?"

"Well the window and door were open and the wind was very strong, so I can definitely see how it would swing open with enough force to knock you over, especially since you weren't expecting it. But no, I didn't see anything else, the rain didn't get anything too wet, there were no scratch marks on the window, everything was normal. There's nothing to worry about."

He gives me a comforting smile. Hmm, perhaps I've been overreacting, those are certainly plausible explanations for what happened in my bedroom. The events in the cave however, now that I think about it, still back up my theory that something is going on.

"Good, I trust your assessment," I reply, looking down at my food to hide the tension I am still carrying.

"So, what do you want to do today?" he asks.

Maybe if I take Grayson down to the cave, we can see if I truly was just overreacting.

"Perhaps we should do something actually useful, like training," I suggest.

"Sounds good to me."

We finish eating and start to make our way towards the cave, I can feel my heart beating a little faster as we get closer. I begin breathing in fast shallow breaths as I watch Grayson turn the handles of the clock. He walks onto the stairs, but I hesitate. He stops and turns back to look at me.

"Are you okay? Did you change your mind?" he asks.

Why am I so worried? I'm not alone this time, Grayson is here. Everything will be fine. I take a deep breath, closing my eyes before opening them with determination.

"Of course I'm fine, Grayson. Let's go," I say as we walk down the stairs to the cave, the entrance closing behind us.

As we reach the bottom, I take in the sights just as I did yesterday. Grayson heads for the training area to get some equipment ready. This doesn't feel like it did during the storm, it's just a normal day. That's it, just a normal day of training I tell myself before joining Grayson.

As we get to work, I try my best to focus on training, but I can't help but peak into the mirror whenever I have an opening. I don't see anything out of the ordinary, but the urge to check refuses to leave me. I think Grayson realizes when he knocks me down to the mat after I take my eyes off of him.

"How about some music?" he suggests as he helps me up, "It's too quiet down here."

He turns towards the speaker system, and that's when I feel it. That sensation on the back of my neck, like I'm being watched. My hands start to shake as I think about looking into the mirror one more time-

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

I jump as the speakers start to blast that weird sound, what's Grayson doing? I start sweating now as I try to cover my ears. I look over to the speakers to see what's going on, but I pause as I spot something, in the corner of my eye. That figure in the mirror, it's back...

"Grayson..."

"I know, I'm trying to fix it!"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH! FLAP! FLAP! FLAP!

"No, I meant-"

"How did I make it worse?"

He's not listening! I have to look, I- Oh no...

It feels like my heart stops as I look and realize, the figure, it's getting closer! Wait, not just closer, it's running straight at me!

"GRAYSON!" I scream as I turn as swiftly as I can and sprint towards the stairs. Don't look back, don't look back, don't-

"DAMIAN!" I hear Grayson yell, but I'm not stopping, all I can think about is getting out of this cave as fast as possible. I already feel out of breath as I reach the stairs, but I have to push further, I have no idea how close that thing-

I jump up the first few steps as I feel something breathing across my neck. It gets harder and harder to not look back as I realize I can hear three sets of feet running up the stairs. I know one is mine, I can only hope another is Grayson's, the third- No, stop it, don't look back, keep your eyes on the entrance.

I hear the sound of glass shattering as the stairway starts to get darker, and darker. The darkness is creeping up behind me, I have to out run it, I have to-

"Ugh!" I yell as I feel someone grab my arm while the darkness passes over me, leaving just the light at the entrance ahead visible.

"I've got you!"

Oh god, it's got me! It's-

Wait, they're not dragging me backward, they're helping me forwards.

"Grayson?" I ask in shock.

"I've got you, Dami. It's fine, just keep running and don't look back!"

"I couldn't if I wanted tooo- OOOH! IT'S GOT ME!" I scream as I feel a hand wrap around my ankle, trying to pull me back.

"KICK IT, DAMIAN! KICK IT!" Grayson yells.

I take his advice and desperately try to kick backwards with my other leg, as Grayson pulls me towards the manor. I can feel connection, so I start viciously kicking over and over again in one spot.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" I scream as I can feel the grip on my ankle loosening.

I hear Grayson open the door as I give one last kick with all my might. Light floods into the stairway as whatever grabbed me lets go, causing us to fly back into the manor from our momentum, as the grandfather clock slams closed behind us.

We roll across the floor, before I end up lying on my back looking at the ceiling, unable to stop my rapid breathing. Grayson sits up and leans over me.

"Are you okay?" he asks, "did you get hurt?"

I close my eyes and shake my head, my sweaty hair flopping around as I do. I can feel him remove my sock and inspect my ankle, which I ignore as I try to calm down. Come on now, just take deep breaths, slow ones, we're safe now...

Grayson places my foot back on the ground and turns his head back to me.

"So, Damian, there's something I should have told you."

I look at him.

"Remember when I said I didn't see anything last night? Well, that's not completely true..."

He lied to me. I start gritting my teeth as anger bubbles up, replacing the fear inside me. I sit up, thrusting my face into his.

"What did you see?" I growl.

As he explains what happened, I can feel all of the pent up emotions over the last two days rising to the surface. When he finishes, I yell directly into his face.

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT BEFORE?"

"Because I wanted to protect you-"

"WELL GOOD JOB, YOU FIXED EVERYTHING AND COMPLETELY PROTECTED ME. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU WERE TOO BUSY DEALING WITH THAT STUPID NOISE, TO HELP ME WITH WHATEVER IT WAS THAT CHASED ME!"

I can feel tears building up as I sit there, staring into Grayson's eyes and struggling to control my breathing. He pulls me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Damian," he whispers into my ear, "I promise to be completely honest with you from here on. I won't let that thing touch you ever again."

The tears I was trying desperately to hold back pour down my face, as Grayson slowly rocks me back and forth.

"To be honest, I didn't tell you everything either," I say before sniffling, "I saw that thing in the cave yesterday."

"Shhhh, it's okay. Is that why you were so nervous last night?"

I nod my head against his shoulder.

We stay like that until the tears stop and I finally relax into steady breathing, at which point Grayson holds me out at arm's length and gives me a smile.

"So I know what do next, we're going to solve this once and for all," he says.

"How?" I ask.

"We tell Alfred everything, of course."

So that's what we do, we find Pennyworth and explain the situation.

"Did you get a good look at what grabbed you, Master Damian?" he asks.

"It was blurry in the mirror and then impossible to see when the lights went out on the stairs, but I know it was white, bright white."

"Did you see it, Master Dick?"

"I only saw it chasing Damian through the mirror, by the time I got to the stairs, the lights were already gone. But it was definitely there, Alfred."

"Oh don't worry, I believe you both. I know you would not come to me for something like this if you weren't serious. But I have one more question, since you haven't seen this thing, do you have any theories on what it is?"

"I do," I say, "I believe it to be a spirit."

"Ah, a poltergeist then?"

"I suppose so."

"And you, Master Dick?"

"I, uh, think Damian may be right about that."

"-tt- Of course I am, I was dead myself for some time, I know a bit about how these things work."

"That may be true, young sir. But if we are operating on the assumption that we are dealing with a poltergeist, I don't believe any of us to be very prepared. My advice would be to spend some time doing research on how to deal with these things. I for example, shall look into the feather that Master Dick gave me earlier."

"That sounds like a good idea, Alfred. I think I may have someone I can talk to, what about you, Damian?"

"I'm sure I can think of something," I reply.

"Well then, let's meet back here in a few hours, and see what everyone has come up with."

As the others go to do whatever useless research they plan to do, I go to the library and after briefly looking for any books on the subject of spirits, decide the best course of action is to meditate. I'm sure there is something useful I can get from my experiences with death, and hopefully this will help me unlock it.

I sit down and try to empty my mind, focusing on my breathing and then...

"Are you going to sit down and listen or not?"

Is that mother's voice?

"-tt- I don't see the point in listening to more useless tales of grandfather's past. It was sooo long ago, and it doesn't interest me."

A conversation I had with her...

"This is not about long ago, this is about now. The past is all around you, Damian. And even more so for your grandfather, once you have faced death, the lines between the past and present are blurred."

"What are you talking about?"

I think I remember this, interesting-

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

"Wah!" I jump as I open my eyes, it's dark outside, storming again...

"You okay, Dami?" Grayson asks as I spot him in the doorway.

"I'm fine."

He gives me a smile.

"Good, it's time to discuss what we've found with Alfred. Come on."

After we all sit down, Pennyworth starts with his findings.

"I looked into the feather, it didn't take long as my first guess turned out to be the correct one. It belongs to an owl. Which of course doesn't necessarily mean it's the most obvious option, but I do think it would be a good idea to consider that The Court of Owls may be involved."

Grayson sighs.

"I feared that might be the case when I saw it, but at least that definitely gives us a lead. What about you, Dami? Did you find anything?"

"Uh, no, actually, not yet. I was close, but then you interrupted me."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I wanted to give us more time, but I had to make sure we'd discussed everything before my guest arrives."

"Guest?" asks Pennyworth.

"Yeah, a guy I had a couple experiences with as Nightwing. Works with this sort of poltergeist stuff. He actually owes Nightwing a favour, but of course I couldn't cash that in and then invite him here. So... I agreed a fairly large amount of cash, for him at least, to come here tonight."

"And what does this guest plan to do?"

"Well he suggested we try a séance, see what the spirit wants."

"Is that safe?"

"It's no more dangerous than going back into the cave without knowing what's down there. So if that's all we've got, we should get setting up for when he arrives. He suggested we do it where there has been some activity, and since the cave isn't an option, I suggest maybe we do it in your room, Damian?" he asks as he turns to me, "if you'd be okay with that."

My heart drops as he says those words.

"Does it have to be my room?"

"It would be the best place," he places his hand over mine, "I promise I'll be there the whole time, right beside you."

I take a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll do it, on one condition. If my room ends up haunted, then I get to have yours as a replacement."

He chuckles.

"If that's what it takes, it's a deal."

We go to my room and set up a round table and four chairs next to the window, before Grayson arrives with his guest. A broad shouldered Asian man who appears to be in his fifties, he's wearing a long soaking trench coat, Pennyworth's expression in response to this briefly gives me some relief from the dread I've been feeling.

"Master Dick, did you not offer to take the man's coat downstairs?" he asks, shocked and confused.

"I'm afraid I insist," the guest pipes up, "I always wear this on the job, would hate to get rid of what could be a lucky charm on such a lucrative job. Of course, I am retired actually from this line of work, but I'm not going to say no to coming to Wayne Manor of all places."

"So..." Grayson jumps in awkwardly, "this is Mr Nagata. Mr Nagata, this is Damian, and this is Alfred."

"Right, let's get down to business. You said you have a feather that you believe to be linked to the activity?" he asks.

"Yes, indeed. Here," Pennyworth says as he pulls it from his pocket and hands it to the man.

"Okay, I'm going to place that in the centre of the table there. Now, I want everyone to take a seat and lock hands."

As we do, I can feel the tension once again rising in my chest. Grayson gives me one last reassuring smile as he takes my hand.

"It's going to be okay," he says.

"Evening spirit," Nagata starts, "we've gathered here today as we wish to contact you. You've been making yourself known, and we'd like to know why. Please feel welcome in our little circle..."

I can't help but squeeze Grayson's hand in shock as I see the feather in the centre of the table begin to levitate. He gives me a nod in reply.

"Well that's interesting," Nagata says, "haven't had that happen before. Anyway, as I was saying, please feel welcome in our circle, and feel free to join-"

Nagata stops as his eyes roll into the back of his head, leaving just the whites visible. I can feel my hands getting increasingly sweaty as we wait to see what happens.

"Uh, Mr Nagata?" Grayson asks.

"I'm not Mr Nagata..." he says, with a much lower voice than before. It doesn't actually feel like the voice is coming from him, more like it's all around us, even though his mouth is moving in time with the words.

"Then who am I speaking to?"

"We are The Court."

We look at each other in concern.

"The Court of Owls?"

"Yes."

"The entire court? Which generation of them? Because that doesn't make any sense. How many are you?" Grayson quizzes, his voice sounding progressively more panicked as he goes on.

"We are The Court and we want the Wayne boy."

I knew it, they want me, oh god. My heart starts to beat out of my chest as my eyes open wide in panic.

"Well tough, you can't have him! Now leave!" Grayson yells in anger.

"WE. WANT. THE. WAYNE. BOY!"

"I SAID LEAVE, RIGHT NOW AND NEVER COME-"

Nagata cuts Grayson off as he breaks the circle and lunges at me from across the table, I'm too shocked to move as he pushes me to the floor and grabs around my throat. As he starts to squeeze, I try to grab at his face. He doesn't respond, so I try kicking him. Grayson grabs him from behind and desperately tries to pull him off, but it's no good, he's so strong. I can barely breathe, my lungs feel like they're on fire. All I can do is wheeze as I slowly lose the strength to move, tears pour down my face. I don't want to die, not again...


	3. Chapter 3

**Dick's POV**

This is all my fault. I promised Damian everything would be okay, and I've failed at protecting him. But no more, I have to get Nagata off him, but he just won't budge!

"ARGH!" I grind my teeth as I pull with all my strength, I don't remember him being this strong...

"HAHAHAHAHA-"

SNAP!

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" screams Mr Nagata as he tilts his head upwards. I see his eyes fall back to their usual position before he finally lets go of Damian's throat, allowing my momentum to fling us backwards to the floor.

I immediately scramble back to my feet and run towards Damian, before cradling him in my arms. He clings to me as he coughs and wheezes desperately for air.

"I'm so sorry that happened, Dami," I whisper as I look down and notice the bruising on his neck. Tears build up in my eyes, "should I call an ambulance?"

Damian shakes his head in response, unable to reply through his attempts to breathe.

"This isn't your fault, I'm the one that should be sorry," says Mr Nagata, I turn to see him dripping with sweat as he leans against the table, "that was the strongest spirit I've ever dealt with, by far. It just took over me. How did you stop it?" he asks.

"I believe that was me," Alfred interjects as he holds up the feather, revealing it to be split in two, "I thought since the circle breaking didn't stop the connection with the spirit, perhaps this is what was keeping it going, so I snapped it. I suppose I was right."

"Good thinking," Mr Nagata replies before trying to shake himself back to his senses, "so listen, I screwed up here, big time. I've hurt the kid, which again I'm very sorry for, so as much as this pains me to say, I don't think I've earned my payment-"

"Wait, is that it? You're not going to help us get rid of this thing? What are we meant to-"

"Here's the problem," he says, signalling me to calm down with his hands, "that's going to be very tricky. Usually just ordering these things to leave does the job. But I don't see that playing out well here, not unless you're very forceful. I may have a few tools I can acquire that could help out, but I'm going to need around a day to retrieve them. So if you insist on me coming back to help, I suggest being very careful for tonight... and maybe don't sleep in this room," he warns.

I give him a nod before he wanders out. I turn back to Damian and see him staring up at me. He seems to be able to breathe a little easier now at least, the wheezing replaced with deep breaths.

"I suppose we should sleep together in my bed again tonight?" I say.

"No," Damian replies.

"We could watch a movie the-"

"No," he says again as his lip starts to quiver.

"Damian?"

"I just want this all to be over!" he cries as he leans his head into my chest.

"Me too, me too..." I whisper as I embrace him.

We sit there for a brief moment before Alfred put his hand on my shoulder, "perhaps we should take Mr Nagata's advice and rest somewhere a little safer," he says.

"How about we go and relax in the living room, huh?" I say to Damian as I start to rub circles on his back. He doesn't reply, but his arms cling around my neck as I lift him up. Alfred gives me a nod as we make our way to the living room. I set us both down gently onto the couch, Damian continues to cry softly into my chest before resting his head on my lap. I try my best to comfort him, and after a while the sounds of his sniffles are replaced by calm steady breathing.

"I'll protect you from here on, Damian, I promise."

**Damian's POV**

"Listen carefully, Damian. For I cannot protect you from death forever, there will come a time where like your grandfather, you will come face to face with what lies beyond."

Mother... you're back...

"What lies beyond?" I hear myself ask.

"Death is not the end. There is something beyond it, and once you have visited there, you will always have a piece of it with you. That piece can act as a beacon for other beings that want to make their way back to this world, the living world."

I see...

"What kind of beings?"

"Every kind. Innocent, guilty, good, evil, as much variety as there are human souls, and possibly other souls."

"How does grandfather deal with that? If one piece is a beacon, he must be blinding."

"He commands the spirits to bow under his might, forcing some to leave and using others to increase his power."

"That's impressive, if he can do it, then I will just do the same. I'm sure I could force all of them-"

"It's not as simple as it sounds, my son. There is a reason even your grandfather with his will of iron forces some spirits to leave rather than using them all, they vary in strength. Some are more difficult to handle, but if you're capable of showing enough resolve, any spirit can bend to your will."

My eyes snap open.

"Any spirit..." I say without thinking.

"Dami, are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?" Grayson asks as I realize my head is in his lap.

I sit up, "I wasn't sleeping, I was merely meditating," at least I think I was...

"Then why'd you mention spirits?"

"I had a vision, or I remembered something, I'm not entirely sure... Mother explained some things to me. It seems Nagata was correct, the way to remove spirits is to command them to leave. We just need to be more forceful... I think I have a plan, Grayson."

He places a hand on my shoulder, "perhaps we should wait and discuss that with Mr Nagata when he comes back tomorrow."

"No, I can do this, Grayson. I... I want this to be over," I say as I gently touch my neck, "it won't be easy, but I need to go back down to the cave. I'm going to tell this thing once and for all that it doesn't belong here. It's the only way."

He pauses for a second, looking intently at my face before giving me that smile of his, but it's different this time, there's a look in his eyes. Is that pride?

"No, Dami, not I, we can do it. I'll be right there with you, all the way."

As we open the entrance to the cave, I can feel tension rising up in my chest once again, but this time I push it back down. I can't let fear control me, I need to will myself to be brave.

When we reach the bottom of the stairs, I head straight for the changing room, refusing to look anywhere else. I'm going to be prepared this time, the spirit may have bested Damian Wayne, but it's yet to come up against Robin. I wait for Grayson to enter and close the door behind him. I begin to get into my outfit, Grayson follows and gets into his Nightwing gear. I take a deep breath and grab my sword, Grayson takes his escrima sticks and I grip the door handle. But I can't bring myself to pull it, I can feel that tension rising again. I close my eyes. It's okay, I know I can do this, I just need to be so confident that the spirit has no choice but to leave immediately. Nothing bad will-

I immediately jump and almost throw a punch as I feel a hand on my shoulder, before I realize it's just Grayson behind me.

"I'm here," he says with a smile.

Which as much as I'd hate to admit it, is just what I needed to hear. So with that, I turn back to the door, take a deep breath and kick it open.

"I know you're here Court, come out, I'd like a word with you!" I yell as I stride into the cave, looking around for any signs of response. But there's nothing. I look into the mirror, but all I can see is the reflection of the cave.

"I SAID, COME OUT!" I yell, pushing myself to be forceful, expending as much air as possible.

SMASH!

Suddenly we're plunged into darkness. All of the light in the cave disappears, it sounds like even the computer shuts down, which never happens. I can't see a thing. What am I going to do? How can I make it leave if I can't see it, I can't-

"Damian! Are you there?"

Grayson, he's still here. Just focus on that, we can do this. I will not let my fear take over, that's exactly what this thing wants.

"I'm here, Grayson. Where are you?"

"I'm just looking for a light switch."

I start to walk forward, slowly and carefully, gripping my sword.

"I'm not scared by your antics, spirit! Now, show yourself!"

No response.

"These little tricks mean nothi-"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

I jump as the speakers blast that sound again. I steady myself and shake my head. Focus, ignore the sound, feel strong, brave. If I just keep telling myself I'm brave, maybe my heart rate will slow back dow-

CLANG!

What was that? Did something fall? All I can let out are short shallow breaths now. I look all around me but I still can't see anything. A bead of sweat drips down my forehead.

"Grayson, are you-"

The hairs on the back of my neck go up as I feel a hand on my shoulder again.

"Grayson, stop doing tha-"

I freeze and my eyes go wide as I feel gravelly breathing next to my ear.

"I'm not Grayson," says a deep gruff voice as whatever's grabbed me starts to squeeze my shoulder.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I let out a high pitched scream, I hear a crack as pain shoots through my shoulder. I start wildly kicking behind me, I think I hit something as I feel the hand let go. I immediately run forward. I still can't see anything, but I just go as fast as I can. I hold my hands out in front of me looking for a wall. But only a few seconds after escaping that thing's grip, I can feel that deep breathing coming from behind me. It's so close to me, I'm sure of it. If it catches me, I-

A wall! But now there's nowhere left to run, I have no choice. I spin around, swinging my sword behind me.

But I don't hit anything, there's nothing there... I know I wasn't imagining that, my shoulder's still in a lot of pain. So where did it go? No, it's okay, it doesn't matter, just breathe. Try to calm down, you need to be brave, remember? Brave, just like Grays-

"Damian!" I hear to my right from a distance.

"Grayson?" I yell back.

"I need some help, something fell on me when I was looking for a light, I can't get it off!"

I hesitate for a second, feeling too nervous to move. But I have to do this, so I start creeping along the wall towards him, "I'm coming!"

Of course he'd be stupid enough to let something fall on him. I'm making sure we don't separate once I-

"Damian!" I hear from behind me this time.

My heart drops. That's Grayson's voice... from the opposite side of the cave, how could he get all the way over there-

"Don't go over there!" Grayson's voice from behind me continues, "I heard that too, but it's not me! Come over here and help me up, we can do this together, Damian!"

I can't move as my heart beats faster and faster. My hands start to shake. I don't know what to do, one of these is the real Grayson, but the other is that thing, and I can't tell which, I can't breathe. I just... I just...

"I JUST WANT THIS TO STOP!" I scream as tears fall down my face, "THIS SPIRIT SHOULD LEAVE! I COMMAND YOU TO LEAVE, RIGHT NOW!"

I kneel over, out of breath and sobbing. But maybe that finally did-

"It's okay, Damian! Don't cry, I got myself out, I'm coming to get you!"

No! It's coming for me, that can't be Grayson! My commands didn't work, why won't it just leave... Stop it, I have to go towards the other one, the real Grayson. I have to move, come on legs, get up!

I manage to lift myself through the shaking, and turn around to run towards the Grayson that still needs help. The only Grayson, the other one is just the spirit, I know it is. But my legs are trembling so much that my knees bash into each other, making me stumble.

"Damian! Is that you?" I hear ahead of me.

Grayson, I have to do this for him! I know he'd be able to push through for me. I lift myself off the floor and start running again, following his voice and searching for him with my hands.

"Damian!" he yells as I wander into whatever's fallen on him.

"Grayson, I've found you," I take a deep breath and feel around this rectangular metal thing, is this a locker? How did that get knocked over? Doesn't matter, not enough time, need to get this thing off him, "I've got you, Grayson. Are you ready?" I ask.

"Yeah that's it! Let's lift it together."

I drop my sword to place both my hands beneath the locker, "Let's do this quickly," I say as I attempt to lift it. But it's not actually as heavy as I expect-

Grayson grabs my wrist, why'd he- Oh god, no no no, I picked the wrong one!

"AAAHHH!" I scream as the fake Grayson slashes at my face. I drop the locker and fall backwards. I can feel blood trickling down my face when suddenly I'm blinded, as all the lights in the cave switch back on. I get off the floor and rub my eyes, as they adjust, I look down to see nothing under the locker.

"Damian!" I hear from behind me.

**Dick's POV**

He stands there for a few seconds, not moving. Come on, Dami, I know you're scared but just turn around. I'm sorry I let us get separated, but we can do this together, I know it. I stop walking as I see him bend down to pick up his sword, he swings around with it, but as he sees me, he allows his arms to drop back down.

"I found the light switch," I say as I walk towards him. I try to cup his face with my hand when I see the scratches across it and the tears in his eyes, he flinches at first, but soon melts into my touch.

"Grayson," he whispers, catching his breath as tears drip down his face.

"Those are some nasty scratches, Dami. I'm so sorry I let that happen, but that's the last injury you're going to get today. The spirit deliberately separated us, because it knows we can get rid of it if we work together. And that's what we're going to do now. We're going to tell this thing-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" yells a deep gravelly voice, resonating through the cave. Damian whips his head to the mirror, I follow and see it, the figure. It's flying towards us! I notice Damian lifting his sword, and leap backwards out of the way as he swings it around to meet the spirit. As they collide, there's a bright flash.

I shield my eyes as I hear Damian's high pitched scream, but it gets lower, and lower, and lower, until it abruptly stops. I uncover my eyes to see Damian kneeling on the ground with his head down, his sword on the floor beside him. I slowly get back to my feet, he doesn't move an inch.

"Damian?" I ask.

"HAHAHAHAHA," he lets out a low disembodied chuckle, "I'm not Damian."


	4. Chapter 4

**Dick's POV**

I'm frozen stiff, my lungs feel heavy as the atmosphere of the room shifts, all I can do is stare at Damian as he kneels on the ground. I can't bring my mouth to say anything. I'm really struggling to process what just happened, but deep down I know, that's not Damian kneeling on the ground, it's that thing, and it's inside of him. This is exactly what it wanted, and I couldn't protect him from it. But I can't give up, we saved Nagata from this, I can find a way to save Damian, I have to. Come on, think! I need to switch off my emotions for a second, do what Bruce would do, and focus on the facts. The spirit has Damian, which is what it said it wanted, but now that it has him... what does it want next?

"So you say you speak for the Court of Owls? That you are the Court even. What does that mean? What do you want?" I ask, finally finding the strength to say something.

"I'm going to make up for my failures to the Court," says that deep disembodied voice, as Damian stays still on the ground. I start to creep closer, trying my best to control my shaking legs.

"So you're not the Court, you're some failed lackey of theirs-"

"The Court will welcome me with open arms, once I have repaid for my mistakes," it responds as I inch closer, sweat dripping down my forehead.

"Why do you need my brother for that?" I grind out of my teeth, really wish I could cut off my emotions like Bruce right now.

"The Waynes were responsible, and so they shall be the ones to pay the price."

"How?" I ask, as I'm almost close enough to grab him now.

There's a deep chuckle.

"The look on Bruce's face when his own son strangles the life out of him, that will be the best part-"

"I won't let you!" I yell, lunging at Damian's body, but as I'm mid air, he stands up, spinning before I can react. He uses the hilt of his sword to hit me on the back of the head. I drop to the floor beside him, clutching an escrima stick in one hand and the back of my head with the other.

"It will be like a wave of euphoria, I can almost feel it now!" he shouts as he swings the sword downwards towards me. Sparks fly off our weapons as I barely manage to rebound the blow with my stick. Spotting an opening, I'm able to sweep his legs and stand up in one twisting motion. I immediately try to kick the sword out of his hand, but he sees the attack coming and slashes at my leg, landing a slice across my shin. I growl as I manage to limp away from another swing of his sword before he stands up.

"Thank you for providing me with not only the boy's body, but even a chance to practice using it. What a kind big brother you are," he taunts as he walks towards me.

"I haven't helped you with anything, and don't get cocky!" I scream as I try to whack his hand, but he's able to step back and block the attack with his sword.

"Oh but you have, don't you see? This is all your fault. I've been watching you, every time you had a chance to protect him you failed. You knew how dangerous coming down here was, and yet you let him go. And then, you let me separate you!" he swings the sword towards my face. I duck out of the way and attempt to uppercut him, but he dodges to the side. He goes in for another slash and I block it, sparks fly once again as this time instead of allowing the sword to rebound, he pushes into the collision. Both our hands shake as our weapons struggle against each other. I know I'm stronger than him, I can feel it, it's not like with Nagata, Damian's body is clearly weaker. I think I'm going to be able to disarm him, but then a smile creeps across his face as I hear a cracking noise. That's when I realize, it's my escrima stick! It's not going to hold up against his sword for much longer, soon enough it will slice through towards-

"GAH!" I yell as the stick splits in half, allowing the sword to fly through towards me. I immediately leap backwards, my face narrowly avoiding the blade as it cuts through a few threads of my hair. But he leaves an opening as his momentum swings the sword downwards, I rush back in and punch him directly on the nose. I hear the sword drop to the floor as he falls and slides backwards. I quickly pick it up and stand over him before he can get off the ground, raising the sword above me as I do.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You punched him," he chuckles as he places his hand over his now bleeding nose, "you punched your little brother in the face."

"Leave his body. NOW!" I growl as fiercely as I can.

"First you fail to protect him, and then you punch him in the face. That's cold, but I know you're not going to slice him in half," he says with a grin as I grind my teeth, my hands shaking with rage as they grip the sword above my head, "Go on, do it. I dare you."

"I said, LEAVE!" I yell, spit flying out of my mouth as my jaw trembles.

"You want me leave so you can try and take care of him again? Because you've done such a great job so far, how long do you think it would be until you can punch him in the face again? Although, I understand why you'd want to, he can be a real nuisance," he says as he slowly reaches into Damian's utility belt, pulling out a batarang.

"Put that down," I warn as he lifts it to his face, "PUT IT DOWN!"

"Stop me then! You have his sword right there, go on. Harm the poor little boy you care for so much and put an end to this, or maybe I'll do it for you."

I don't know what to do, I can't breathe. It feels like my heart is beating faster and faster as he continues to bring the batarang closer to his face. My whole body is shaking now, I can't hurt Damian, but I don't know how to convince this thing to leave, and if I don't soon then-

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he chuckles again as he starts to slowly slice down the side of Damian's face. Blood immediately pouring out of the wound, "I can't feel a thing," he says, "I wonder how Damian feels right now- AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screams, wait, that's Damian's voice! His face contorts in pain, as tears stream from his eyes.

"DAMIAN?" I yell.

But the screaming stops suddenly as his face goes back to that grin, "Remember, Damian's not heeeeeere," he says in that low disembodied voice again.

"Yes he is," I reply.

"No, he's not. He's gone."

"But he's right there, I just heard him," I pause to grin myself, "you made a mistake showing me that. You thought it would scare me, right? Make me a part of your revenge. But all you've done is show me exactly how to get rid of you, and I can do it without even harming Damian."

"DAMIAN'S NOT HERE!" he yells as he lunges forward to stab me with the batarang, but I swiftly drop the sword and grab his wrist, holding him there.

"I told you not to get cocky," I warn as he tries desperately to free himself from my grip, "I wonder, can you do your little tricks now that you're inside of him? Or are you just stuck with the abilities of a ten year old boy?"

He growls as he tries to kick me in the stomach, but I take the kick, unmoving as I stare into his eyes, and that's when I see the panic. The same panic Damian must have felt when this thing invaded his body.

"Damian, I know you can hear me," I say, "you're safe now, trust me. You just have to come out."

"I told you. DAMIAN. IS. GONE!"

"He's in there fighting, isn't he? Is that why you're so weak? You may have been able to hold Nagata back, but fighting my little brother? That's a problem for you, because Damian's the strongest person I know. You better focus, because if anyone can beat you, it's him. All he has to do is command you to leave. Right now. Do it. Leave! LEEAAAAVE!" I yell directly into his face.

He starts to twitch, not even trying to escape my grip anymore. Before tilting his head up towards the ceiling as he screams in his low voice, but it starts to get higher and higher, until it finally breaks into Damian's. Screaming not of pain or fear, but of strength and determination as the lights of the cave flicker. He stops and drops his head as he starts to let out some deep breaths, before looking back to my face. I see his eyes starting to tear up again and instantly embrace him, my little brother, free of that evil thing.

"It's okay," I start to rub his back as he sobs into my chest, "you're safe now. But you've got one more thing to do, then this can all be over."

"I don't want to," he cries.

"I know it's hard, but I'm so proud of you, Damian. You can do this," I whisper into his ear, "if you can kick that thing out of your body, then this should be a piece of cake. All you have to do, is tell it one more time, to leave and never come back. Do you think you can do that?"

I feel his head nod against my chest. I place both my hands on his shoulders and gently turn him around, he looks up at me.

"Remember," I say, "you're not alone. We'll do this together. Are you ready?"

He rubs the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and squares his shoulder before we both take a deep breath, stomping our feet as we yell with all our might.

"LEAVE SPIRIT AND NEVER COME BAAAAAAAACK!"

There's a deep roar in return as we see a flicker of light in the cave, but as it slowly drifts further and further away the roar gets quieter and quieter, until it seems to leave the cave completely.

We stand there for a second, panting as a wave of relief washes over us. We did it...

"WE DID IT, DAMI!" I yell as I lift him into a hug, "Well done, you were so strong!" he clings to me as I start to swing us around.

"Grayson, slow down! Grayson!" he shouts.

I do as he says and gently let him down, placing his feet back on the floor. I look him in the eye and can't help but give him a huge smile.

"Sorry, I'm just so glad it's all over," I say before taking a deep breath, "I love you, Dami."

I can see his lip start to quiver before he dives back in for another hug, "I... I love you too, Grayson."

My jaw drops, did he just... that's the first time he's ever said that to me. I embrace him as tears stream down my face. I try to take the moment in, but very soon my adrenaline seems to run out, as I start to feel some intense pain in my shin and remember the wound that thing gave me.

I pull Damian's head away from my chest.

"How about we go get Alfred to patch us up," I suggest as I inspect the cut on his face, "and we should really tell him all about what just happened."

Damian nods and tries to wipes some of the blood off his face, but I stop him and do it carefully myself. As I stand up and start to limp towards the stairs, he notices and helps me take some pressure off my leg. Usually it's against all our rules to go up to the manor in our costumes, let alone with injuries, but we can make an except this one time. We find Alfred together and explain what happened as he cleans and stitches up our wounds, before we get changed out of our costumes.

"It sounds to me like you were both very brave," he says, "and I'm glad that things worked out with only minor injuries. And mostly I'm very proud of you both for pulling off such a feat. But I must insist, that you never, ever, do something like that without informing me again. I could not live with myself if either of you had gotten seriously hurt when I could have helped, if you had only told me what was happening. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," I reply, "won't happen again, Alfred."

"Sorry, Pennyworth," Damian adds.

"Apology accepted. Now I'm sure you're both exhausted," he say as Damian yawns, "so I'd suggest some rest."

"I think that's a good idea, come on, Dami. Thanks for everything, Alfred."

As we get to my room, it becomes clear that Damian wants to take up my earlier offer of sleeping in my bed, as he walks straight in and immediately collapses onto it. I laugh and pick him up so I can move the covers and place him onto it properly. As I climb in myself, he shifts closer to me. I place my arm over him and pull him into my chest, before letting out a deep sigh as I take in the comfort of my nice fluffy bed.

"I bet you're glad I came to babysit you now, huh Dami?" I whisper.

But there's no reply, as I see Damian is already fast asleep. That looks like a good idea, so I close my eyes.

"Next time I promise nothing like this will happen, we'll just build a pillow fort or something, that would be nice..."

**Damian's POV**

I open my eyes a crack as I feel the bed move, I see Grayson approaching Pennyworth in the doorway.

"Sorry to bother you, Master Dick," Pennyworth says, "but I assumed you would want to explain the situation to Mr Nagata yourself."

"No, you're right. With everything that happened, I completely forgot that I told him to come back. I'll just try to make it back before Damian wakes up," Grayson replies as they both leave.

I look out the window to see a clear sky, before sitting up and stretching. I feel the stitches on my face and decide to check them in the mirror. As I look at my face, something doesn't feel quite right. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel uneasy for some reason. I think about what mother said, about having a piece of what lies beyond death inside of me. I wonder about grandfather, she said he keeps the spirits and uses them, well that spirit was inside of me, is a piece of it still in there? So I decide to test, by seeing if I can laugh, just like it did.

"Haha- ahem, Ahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I stop breathing for a second... that was it, that was the laugh. How did I... did I control that or... am I possessed still? No, this is different. I shake my head. I'm in control right? Of course I am. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, before looking back into the mirror.

"Spirits do not control me, I command them," I say to myself, "there is merely a piece of this one left, and it is mine do with as I please. I am Damian Wayne, Son of Batman, and-"

"Damiiaaaan? Was that you? Are you awake?" I hear Grayson yell from the hallway.

"I am Damian Wayne, and I am not alone, perhaps now I'll never be alone. But most importantly, I will always be protected."


End file.
